Farmageddon Highlights Poverty Awareness Week

Americans’ right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is under attack according to the Farmageddon website. The film tells the story of small, family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent action and at other times by agents of government bureaucracies.

A screening of the film on November 12 at 5:30 p.m. in the Ministry Center is one of the highlights of Poverty Awareness Week (PAW) at Neumann. Other activities during PAW (November 10-15) include liturgy on November 10 at 7 p.m. in Sacred Heart Chapel; Fair Trade tables in Bachmann lobby on November 11-15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and a Music and Poetry Night on November 14 at 7 p.m. in Schmidt Multipurpose Room.

Producer Kristin Canty’s Farmageddon documents her quest to find healthy food for her four children, a mission that morphs into investigative journalism when she discovers she is denied the freedom to select the foods of her choice from the producer of her choice. The film succinctly asks why this is happening in 21st century America.

Farmageddon stresses the urgency of food freedom. Though the film deals with intense scenes and dramatic situations, the overall tone is optimistic, encouraging farmers and consumers alike to take action to preserve individuals’ rights to access food of their choice and farmers’ rights to produce these foods.

According to a New York Times review by Jeannette Catsoulis, “There is a lot going on in Farmageddon, Kristin Canty’s anxiety-laden documentary about government oversight of our farming and food production. Part consumer-rights advocacy, part abuse-of-power exposé, the film dances between the two as if uncertain where to settle. But though neither thread is as fully developed as we might want, Ms. Canty’s main concern — that agribusiness is employing government agencies to harass small, independent farmers — comes through loud and clear.”

For more information about the film or other PAW activities, contact Melissa Hickey at hickeym@neumann.edu.